


Brilliant Beyond Brilliant Idea

by lovelyknow (celestialdescendant)



Category: GOT7, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Fashion Designer/Model Mark Tuan, Idol/Producer Jackson Wang, Inspired by The Parent Trap (1998), M/M, established Choi Youngjae/Im Jaebeom | JB, no such thing as too much storge and philia in any story, not mpreg, some (heavy) angst with a happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25181128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialdescendant/pseuds/lovelyknow
Summary: In the Sunshine Cabin of Yellow Wood Summer Camp, Felix Tuan and Jisung Wang meet for the first time. Or so they thought. Because as it turns out, almost thirteen years ago, they once shared a crib.-Alternatively, a self-indulgent MarkSon Parent Trap (1998) inspired AU featuring the JiLix sunshine twins.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han & Lee Felix, Jackson Wang & Han Jisung | Han, Mark Tuan & Lee Felix, Mark Tuan/Jackson Wang
Comments: 19
Kudos: 41





	1. prologue

In the quiet of a winter’s night, a pair of eyes suddenly opened wide before closing back immediately. The light from the Heavens was still too much for them to handle.

But they want to _open_ , they want to _see_!

They don’t want it to hurt, but they have to see. They _need_ to see!

Open again, close again.

Hands reaching up to the eyes.

A loud and pained whine.

_Careful._

A whimper.

Hands gently moving away.

Eyes gently relaxed.

A shaky inhale. A quiet exhale.

_Slowly._

_Don’t be greedy_.

Blink open. Blink close.

Blink open, blink close.

Open, close.

_That’s it._

Open. Close.

Open—

_Good job, little one_.

There’s something above their head.

It’s a peculiar thing.

But from the now bearable light of the Moon, they could now see that the peculiar thing was made of little, different things too far for their reach. Unmoving yet captivating little things. It’s weird. It’s interesting. The _little one_ didn’t know that what initially captivated his attention was called a mobile, a little toy meant to entertain little ones like them.

But what the _little one_ did know, however, was that it’s not what they were looking for.

The head turned to one side, and the eyes didn’t see what they wanted to see. _Not here_. And again to the other side. _Not here either_. Back up to the weird things, to a different side, then to the other different side.

_Not this one_.

Turn again.

_Not that one_.

Turn again, and again, and again—

_Not here, not here, not HERE_ —

**  
  
  
**

Nightmare is a simple thing, with a simple job. Nightmare looks into the minds of humans, goes in deep to look for a Hated Thing, and brings it up to the front of the human’s thoughts. See, very simple. Infants, especially, are Nightmare’s favorite visitees. There are so many things an infant is capable of imagining with their mind, but this particular _little one_ does not fear monsters or ghosts like most do.

It’s much simpler than any of those. Nightmare didn’t even have to put in any effort with his visit to this little one. They barely had to go deep in this infant’s mind to find it.

This _little one_ ’s Hated Thing, you see… 

**  
  
  
**

—gone.

**  
  
  
**

… is their reality.

**  
  
  
**

Tremble. Whimper. Cry.

_It’s gone_.

Cry and wail. Scream and cry. Cry and cry.

_Nowhere to be found_.

Cry and cry and cry some more.

_Gone_.

Infants aren’t capable of holding explicit memories until they are least two years of age, or so science believes. Implicit memories, however, can start much, _much_ earlier. Evidence lies in this little one. In the quiet of a winter’s night, they cry because of Loss.

Loss of what, they do not know. Not yet. Loss of what? They do not know, just that Loss hurts. Loss hurts so much.

Tiny hands and arms search everywhere around them, but nothing is enough. The pillows were too big. The stuffed toys were too fluffy. The knitted blanket was just too small.

A precious thing is gone. Not here. Missing.

Eyes closed tight again, tears welling up on the side. Voice loud and going hoarse. Fingers desperate to grab something, anything, only to end up with nothing.

Gone. Not here. Missing. _Taken from them_ —

“Hey, my little prince.”

A hiccup. Another cry. And hands—

“Crying again?”

—hands grasped desperately at an extended finger.

Blink open. _Blurry_. Blink close.

“You know I wanted you to take after me more, but you only seem to possess my inability to sleep properly. I think I have the right to be reasonably concerned.”

A loud whimper.

Slow opening of eyes.

“Was it a nightmare?”

The sight was clearer now.

A little to the side of the peculiar thing, there was a figure looking down on them with eyes of its own, a nose of its own, a smile of its own. It wasn’t what the _little one_ was looking for, this much they knew, but it was close.

A pair of hands lifted them up from the armpits and held them close.

_Oh_.

“Up you go! You’re getting bigger and bigger everyday, huh? That’s good. The nice lady next door said you should be putting on more weight.”

_Being held feels nice_.

“What should I do, hm? How about I sing you to sleep? Would you like that?”

A sniffle. A gurgle. A whine.

“Okay! I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’”

And in the quiet of a winter’s night, with no one but the moon and the stars as their witnesses, a man no older than twenty-three years old sings his little prince of four months old a lullaby.

For this little one, the Loss is still felt.

But slowly, surely, something else is replacing Loss.

A prolonged final note, slowly melting into the night.

And the lullaby is done.

“So, how about it? Do you think it will give me my big break?”

**  
  
  
  
  
**

_… ix?_

**  
  
  
  
  
**

“Hey, are you ignoring your papa, now?”

**  
  
  
  
  
**

_… Felix?_

**  
  
  
  
  
**

“You know, you’re hurting my feelings by not answering me.”

The voice was deep but soft and calming. _Reassuring_. The much larger arms and hands holding them close as they moved side-to-side were warm and sturdy. _Safe_. With the light from the window, there was a smiling face looking down on them. And that smile—

**  
  
  
  
  
**

“ _Come on now, love. Wake up_.”

Blink open, blink close.

Open, close.

Open—

“… _Dad?_ ”

**  
  
  
  
  
**

—that smile was so warm, so caring. It was _home_.

Loss is never truly gone, but Love has been known to refill the spaces Loss has left behind. And for the _little one_ , it was more than enough.

_Papa_ is more than enough.

**  
  
  
  
  
**

Mark hummed and ran a hand through Felix’s bed (or rather, couch) hair. “Good evening to you too, love. Had a nice nap?”

Felix sat up slowly and rubbed at his eyes. “What time is it?”

“Dinner time.”

“… Huh?”

“We’re having dinner early with everyone, remember? Come on, Chris and Minho are almost done cooking our dinner for tonight.” Mark lifted a very lethargic Felix up on his feet and gently pushed him towards the dining area.

“… Nnngblergh.”

“Felix Yongbok Tuan, you and I can understand each other in five different languages, but none of those covers that sound you just let out.”

“Blrghmnnn…”

“Words, Felix. Use your words.”

“Uhhhh, cheese… stick?”

Mark laughed, light and trickling. “Yes, they even made cheese sticks. They prepared all your favorites for tonight since you’ll be gone for a while.”

_Gone_.

“Gone?”

“Yes, Felix.” Mark snorted in amusement. “You’re going to summer camp, remember? Don’t tell me you forgot all that already.”

One blink. “Huh?”

Mark pulled them to a stop and made Felix turn around to look at him. “Yellow Wood Summer Camp. Does it ring a bell yet?”

Two blinks. “Uh…”

“Korea. Flight. Uncle Jinyoung. Are you with us, yet?”

And three. “Oh!”

Mark poked Felix’s forehead playfully but still hard. “And he’s finally back.”

“Ow.” Felix rubbed the spot where Mark poked him, but it was mostly for the theatrics of the situation. Grinning up to his dad, he opened his arms wide in the universal action that is demanding of a hug. “ _I’m back_.”

Mark smiled fondly at him and happily gave him the hug.

“ _Welcome back_.”

08/JAN/2001

revamping a lullaby:

_lovely_  
_you are my sunshine, my_ ~~_only_~~ _sunshine_

_you make me happy, when skies are gray_

_you⌄never ~~ever~~ know dear how much I love you_  
_will_

~~_love, don’t take_~~ _please don’t take my sunshine away_

— J.W.


	2. one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so, after thirty minutes, 3 checked-in luggages, and a short incident involving Bambam and a Karen’s faux Gucci bag, the small group found themselves standing just outside immigration.
> 
> “Okay.” Mark looked towards the counters with a sort of dread filling his stomach. “This is it. As soon as you go through security, I won’t be seeing you until the next month.”
> 
> “Yep.” Felix adjusted the straps of his backpack and smiled up at Mark. “You alright there, dad? You look nervous.”
> 
> “I’ll be worse when I don’t have you in my sight anymore.”

Sydney Airport. Located next to Botany Bay in New South Wales in Australia, it is one of the world’s longest continuously operated commercial airports, so it’s no surprise that it’s the busiest airport in the country. With the millions of passengers it accommodates daily, no doubt the airport-goers have seen their fair share of odd fellows.

But of course heads will still turn when a voice carries over the noise of the crowd.

“That can’t be all you’re bringing to your camp, right?”

Such as now.

Felix looked towards his single black roller bag that Bambam was gawking at (and not in the good way). “I have my backpack and camera bag, but, yeah, that’s all I’m bringing.” Felix swore, in that moment, that he had never seen Bambam look at him with such horror before.

“B-But you’ll be gone for over a month!” Heavy emphasis placed on the duration of Felix’s trip. “And this suitcase is only half your size!”

“The camp people said in the email that they’ll be providing clothes for us when we get to our cabins, so I didn’t think I should be bringing much.” Felix shrugged his shoulders. “So I mostly packed underwear.”

Bambam scoffed. “What kind of clothes could they possibly give you?”

“Seungmin told me they give new t-shirts, sweaters, shorts, and jogging pants every year.” Felix listed them off with his fingers. “They pick a different theme every year for the colors, I think they picked autumn for this year?” He expected Bambam to make a sarcastic comment on the color scheme, but Minho beat him to it, surprisingly.

“Autumn. For a summer camp color scheme?” Minho rolled his eyes. “Groundbreaking.”

Bambam wildly gestured in Minho’s direction. “See! Even you understand! Felix, let me see pictures of those clothes ASAP.”

“Uh,” Felix looked at his phone, “I think Seungmin has some pictures on Facebook. I’ll go check.”

“And what are you going to do if the clothes don’t match your standards?” Minho directed the question to Bambam. “Yongbokie’s flight is in two hours.”

“Are you doubting my abilities, Minho Lee-Park?” Bambam stared haughtily down at the seventeen-year-old. “You should know that no distance will ever be too much for me to make sure our Felix is dressed appropriately.”

“Bamie,” Chris called from where he was seated nearby, “Felix is not even thirteen years old yet. When we were his age, we only wore t-shirts and shorts.” Situated beside him were 2 larger roller suitcases, a duffel bag, and the aforementioned camera bag.

“Yeah, but he’s a Tuan.” Bambam stressed hard on the name. “And excuse me for being offended, but did you just imply that you and I had the same fashion sense at thirteen?” Bambam placed a hand over his heart in offense, “I, at least, knew how to match my clothes, Mr. Green-Top-Pink-Shorts.”

Minho took Bambam’s moment of distraction to pull Felix a few steps away for some last-minute speaking practice. His Yongbokie might be used to writing and typing in Korean, but speaking the language was a whole other league of its own.

“That was only one time!” Chris laughed. “And it was because I had nothing else to wear since they were all in the wash.”

“And it still haunts me to this day, fourteen years later.” Bambam let out a shudder, not noticing the way Chris smiled at him in fond exasperation. “But now you only wear black like your life depends on it.”

“Nobody in the company cares if I wear all black since I just stay in the studio all day.”

“That’s not my point!” Bambam groaned. “You need at least some color in your wardrobe.”

“You threw away the jacket I bought just last week.” Chris pointed out. “I was only able to wear it once, then I noticed you put it in one of Mark’s Donation Drive boxes.”

“It was neon orange!” Bambam cried out, surprising a family that was passing by their small group of four. “You might have very well just put a traffic cone on your head! I don’t care if you’re—Wait, Felix!” Bambam spun around, grabbing on to the boy in question by his shoulders. “What if they make you wear orange? Please tell me you packed at least three different denim pieces.”

Felix blinked. “Well, I’m wearing my denim jacket right now? I also have the jeans we bought last month. That’s only two, but I know how to wash my own clothes if I need them again.”

“Okay, good,” Bambam visibly deflated, “that’s good. That should be fine, I think? Did you pack your own soap and fabric softener?”

“Bamie, calm down.” Chan said, standing up and walking over to Bambam. He patted him comfortingly on the shoulder twice. “You know that Felix can take care of himself.”

“Ugh,” Bambam threw his hands up in the air in frustration, “fine! But Felix, tell me you packed at least ten full outfit sets.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “Duh, I’m not an animal. Minho and I found a packing hacks video.”

“What about the travel skin-care kit I gave you?”

“All sealed and at the top of my suitcase.” Felix grinned up at Bambam, throwing two thumbs-up. “I even wrote down the things you taught me so I won’t forget them.”

Bambam, feeling a sudden rush of affection, pulled Felix to his body in a tight hug, much to Minho’s annoyance and Chris’s amusement. “I’m going to miss you, Pixie-Lixie. Mina is really busy with her own job these days, and now you’re going to be gone! Who’s going to window-shop with me now?”

Felix giggled, snuggling closer. Bambam was tall and skinny, but his hugs were still very warm and firm. “Tzuyu is still going to be here until next week as well as Minho—”

“Pass.”

Chris pushed Minho lightly in warning.

“—and Eric is staying here for the whole of the break, right?”

“Ehh…”

“Don’t ‘ehh’ me,” Felix pulled away to pinch Bambam’s arm playfully. “Be nicer to Eric.”

“Maybe when the brat stops coming after my job,” Bambam grumbled.

If Minho were to roll his eyes any further, it might get stuck there. “For the _n_ th time, Eric is twelve. Not even a teenagar. He’s even younger than Felix by three months! By the time he’s even allowed to apply for the junior internship at Uncle Mark’s company, you would be managing your own career at the rate you’re progressing.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like him.”

“Are we talking about Eric again?”

Four heads turned in the direction of the two newly arrived from the washroom. The slightly taller of the two appeared to be busy talking to someone on the phone, so attention went to the remaining half of the pair.

Mark Tuan, full-turned-part-time model, part-time fashion designer and full-time father of Felix Yongbok Tuan, smiled that smile that turned his eyes into crescents. “Bambam, you know you don’t have to be insecure. I don’t plan on having a new assistant in the foreseeable future unless you suddenly want to resign.”

“Maaaaark!” Bambam wailed and sort of launched himself at Mark, clinging to him tight. It made quite a sight to passers-by. “You’re never getting rid of me! ‘Til death do we part!”

“Did you two get married without any of us knowing or something?” Jinyoung joked, finally joining their conversation. “Mark, I thought you would have at least made me a witness to such an important turning point in your life. Do all our years of friendship mean nothing to you?”

Mark rolled his eyes, ignoring the questions. “What did your agent want to discuss?”

“They wanted to clarify the arrival details because they insisted on picking me and Felix up at the airport tomorrow.”

Minho, who finally got Felix away from Bambam and was now hugging him from behind, perked up at that. “Fancy. They never did that with us before, right?”

“I think they’re just kissing up to Mark Tuan of 7for7 so that he will agree to help with the wardrobe of a fashion-heavy movie,” Jinyoung teased his friend.

“Tell them to send the proposal first before trying to soften me up, because it doesn’t work that way.” Then Mark turned to Felix with a smile. “Ready to go, love?”

“Yep!” Felix was holding on to Minho’s hands around him, swaying the two of them side to side. It was amusing to see because Minho wasn’t normally this affectionate in public, but Mark supposed it was because Felix would be gone for a month, so they’re stocking up while they can. “I quadruple checked everything before we left, and checked everything again while you were in the bathroom.”

“Mhm, we shall see about that.” Mark pulled out his phone from his pocket. He opened the notes app and began listing off items he had written down. “Vitamins and special medicine?”

“In my check-in.”

“First aid kit?”

“Check-in! You even helped me restock it.”

“Lip balm, sunscreen?”

“Carry-on, and check-in.”

“Camera, charger, and extra SD card?”

“I never leave without it.” Felix puffed out his chest proudly, but deflated when Mark messed his hair playfully.

“Toothbrush and soap?”

“Dad.”

“It doesn’t hurt to be sure.” Mark smiled and finally pocketed his phone. “Lets go to the check-in counter?”

And so, after thirty minutes, 3 checked-in luggages, and a short incident involving Bambam and a Karen’s faux Gucci bag, the small group found themselves standing just outside immigration.

“Okay.” Mark looked towards the counters with a sort of dread filling his stomach. “This is it. As soon as you go through security, I won’t be seeing you until the next month.”

“Yep.” Felix adjusted the straps of his backpack and smiled up at Mark. “You alright there, dad? You look nervous.”

“I’ll be worse when I don’t have you in my sight anymore.” Mark grumbled lowly, but everyone still heard him.

“See, this is why I think you need this time apart.” Jinyoung pointed an accusatory finger at Mark from where he and Minho were saying their own farewells and reminders. “You have a separation issue that needs to be fixed. I can’t imagine how you’ll be if Felix decides to go to college somewhere far.”

“He’s not even in high school-level yet!” Mark protested, pulling an exasperated Felix close to his person (Felix wasn’t fooling anyone with his cat-got-the-cream smile and arms wrapped around his dad, though). “Don’t scare me with the c-word!”

“Mark, no need to be so dramatic. That’s what Bamie’s here for.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m here for—Chris?!” Chris laughed and pulled Bambam in a one-armed hug as a form of apology. To Bambam’s credit, he didn’t forgive Chris as easily as Minho expected. There was a small show of Bambam (dramatically) complaining about not being appreciated enough in their group, and Chris trying to gain back his favor.

“Final reminders,” Mark finally pulled away and looked seriously at Felix. “Text me when you’re about to board the plane, okay? When you land in Korea, send me a WhatsApp message as soon as you get connected to the wifi. Send me another one when you get to Jae’s apartment, and every morning when you wake up or before you go to sleep. I’m not sure if they’ll have wifi at your camp but send me as many messages as you can, okay?”

“Okay, dad.”

“If you want to video call, I should be available whenever you want. I’m going to be busy preparing for next season’s line but my break time’s pretty flexible.”

Bambam, who had finally given in and forgiven Chris for his teasing, loudly interrupted, “Your Friday lunches for the next two months are dedicated to the board meetings, Mark.”

Mark waved him off nonchalantly, “I’m sure they’ll understand if Felix needs to talk to me.”

“Mark,” Bambam deadpanned, “no.”

“Mark, relax.” Jinyoung laughed. He had an arm around Minho, who was hugging him tightly around the waist. Minho was really banking in all the hugs he can. “This isn't his first time flying. You made sure to teach him everything he should know about travelling and being in a different country. Say your last words because the immigration line’s getting a bit long now.”

“Ugh, okay, fine!” Mark glanced quickly to the heavens for strength before looking back at Felix seriously. “Last thing: I know I told you that you can get an ear piercing this year, but if you suddenly want to do it in Korea, you have to at least tell me first. Have Jae—actually, tell Seungmin’s dad Wonpil or even Sungjin first before Jae so they can look up the place and send me the details so I can look into them myself.”

“You’re actually allowing him to have a piercing in a different country?”

“Two at most.” Mark clarified, holding up three fingers in Chris’ direction. Back to Felix, “If you want a third piercing, you have to come back to Australia first so that Bambam and I can help you with that decision.”

Felix nodded solemnly. “Understood.”

“If he’s allowed a piercing, are you finally also allowing him to get a romantic partner?” Bambam asked his boss teasingly.

“That is still out of the question.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I’m looking to be in a relationship anyway. I’m only twelve.” Mark has almost never felt so proud of himself in raising Felix.

“Bold of you to assume that Yongbokie has the brain cells to talk to someone he realizes he would want to date.” Minho grinned wider at Felix’s pout to him.

“You’re much worse when you talk to someone you’re attracted to,” the freckled pre-teen protested.

“But at least I was able to ask someone out on a date.” Jinyoung perked up at that.

“How come I didn’t know about this?”

“It was only one date,” Felix crossed his arms over his chest, “that shouldn’t count!”

“But it’s one more than you ever did in your whole life so far, Yongbokie.” Minho stuck his tongue out, then smiled up to Jinyoung. “It was last year with someone from school. But during the date, I found out they didn’t like cats so I never asked them on a second date.”

“Ah,” Jinyoung nodded to himself thoughtfully. “Understandable. So, Felix, ready to go?”

“Yep!” Felix turned to his dad for one final hug. “Bye, dad! I promise to get you a souvenir from Korea.”

“You don’t have to get me anything.” Mark insisted. “Just have fun and keep yourself safe, okay? I’ll see you in one month.” Pulling away, they shared another knowing smile to each other before parting with a cheek kiss to each other. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“And I love you most.”

**  
  
  
**

♛

**_Private Messages of Mark Tuan_** **_  
_****—aaa1 Felix**

JULY 11, 2013; 8:13PM

We’re about to board the plane!! 🛩

Copy.

Good night, Felix. Safe travels!

Don’t forget to message me when you two  
touch down in Korea.

Will do!!!

Love you!!! ❤️

Love you too. ❤️

♛

On the car ride back to the Tuan residence, it was energetic.

“Be honest with me, Mark. I know Felix loves Disney movies, but it was you who insisted on copying those lines from Tangled, right?”

“I think it’s sweet of them.”

“I never said it wasn’t sweet, Chris. I just wanted to out Mark for the sap that he is.”

“Can we get ice cream on the way home? I really want a vanilla cone right now.”

“Oooohhh, now that’s an idea! Chris, quick, do a drive-thru at a McDonald’s!”

“Minho, we still have the leftover dessert from dinner. Bambam, don’t encourage him. Chris, just take us directly home. I have to go through the briefing for the meeting.”

“But Uncle Maaaark…”

“Boo, you’re no fun."

“Sure thing, Mark!”

♛

**  
  
  
**

One would think that after having travelled at least twice a year for as long as he could remember, Felix would lose the excitement and curiosity of visiting a new country. But here he is, practically kneeling in his seat to get a glimpse of Korea through the plane’s window.

“Sit down properly, Felix.” Jinyoung coaxed his travel companion. “You’ll be seeing all of those up close in less than an hour.”

“Sorry, uncle. I’m just really excited!”

“I know.” Jinyoung chuckled fondly. “But I think the flight attendants would like you to follow landing protocol.” He smiled wide when Felix theatrically sat back in his seat.

“When is Uncle Jae picking us up from the hotel?”

“He said he has work until 3PM so he’ll arrive at our hotel by 4PM at the latest.” Jinyoung said, easily recalling what Mark grilled into his head at least ten times. “That should give us at least 8 or 9 hours of free time, depending on the time we arrive at the hotel. Have you thought of what you wanted to do during that time?”

Felix nodded enthusiastically. “I wrote down where I wanted to go and how to get there in my notebook.” Felix pointed to the storage compartment between them where they kept his things at the start of the flight. “Minho helped me pick out the places.”

“Please tell me none of those places include a theme park.” Felix giggled at Jinyoung’s exaggerated whine. “As much as I enjoy them, I think I’m getting too old for those things.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Jinnie. I made sure the most physical thing we’re going to do is walking. Seungmin said they’re already planning to take me to Lotte World tomorrow.” Felix was practically vibrating with excitement in his seat, and Jinyoung resisted the urge to pat his travel companion’s head. “He said he wanted to bring me to so many other places, but his dad told him to only pick one since we’ll be leaving for camp on Sunday.”

 _Bless you, Kim Wonpil._ “So he picked Lotte World?”

“Lotte World.” Felix nodded solemnly, but then his face broke into a wide grin. “Minho told me you went there together last year, so I’m excited to experience the rides myself!”

Jinyoung thought back to the trip fondly. “He was really scared of the high and fast rides, but he really wanted to try out as many attractions as possible.”

“Minho’s easily scared, but he had you with him then so I think he felt a little braver.” Felix sat back further in his seat so he could swing his legs back and forth. “I wish he could have come with us on this trip. We promised we would go explore Korea together.”

“If he had come with us on this trip, you wouldn’t be going to summer camp with Seungmin.” Jinyoung pointed out. “You wouldn’t see Seungmin at all, actually.”

“You have a point.” Felix pouted, and Jinyoung coughed to hide a laugh. “I wanted to go on a vacation with Minho, but I think I deserve to meet Seungmin in person.”

“You do.” Jinyoung smiled, finally allowing himself to pat Felix on the head. He smiled a little wider when Felix leaned into his touch like a cat. _Exactly like Minho,_ he thought fondly, _but I guess that’s to be expected since they grew up together._ “You’ve been friends for so long, I think it’s only fair that you get to spend an entire summer together.”

“Best friends.” Felix corrected innocently.

“Right, sorry. Best friends.”

“Can I confess something?” Felix looked at Jinyoung with a nervously excited gleam in his eyes. “I’m kinda scared I won’t live up to his expectations. What if we finally meet but I’m not interesting enough for him? What if I forget how to talk when we’re finally face to face?”

“I’m sure that won’t happen, Felix.” Jinyoung cut in before Felix could spiral further into his insecurities. “You and Seungmin became friends when you were five and barely knew how to spell correctly in even one language. If that didn’t stop you two from getting close, meeting face to face will be nothing. You trust me, right?”

“Of course.” Honesty was something Mark had instilled in Felix as soon as he could talk.

“Then you’ll be fine.” Jinyoung smiled encouragingly at him. “Distance never stopped your friendship from blooming, so this should be easy for you two. I know people who’ve known each other for almost all their lives and just drift apart.” If his smile turned a little melancholic towards the end, Felix didn’t notice.

Felix hummed quietly, getting a little lost in his thoughts. “I hope my Korean is enough.”

“You’ve video-called Seungmin many times before and easily kept up in conversations with Minho right before we left. I think your Korean is enough. How about we start speaking only in Korean from now on until the moment we land to help you ease into it?”

“Konglish,” Felix bartered, to which Jinyoung rolled his eyes, but his mouth was still quirked upwards in a smile.

“Fine, we’ll speak Konglish.”

**  
  
  
**

♛

**_Private Messages of Mark Tuan_** **_  
_****—aaa1 Felix**

JULY 12, 2013; 8:49AM

Good morning, dad!! 😄 We’re waiting  
for Uncle Jinnie’s agent to pick us up.

Good morning, love! No problem with  
immigration?

Nope! Your letter was very legit. 👍 The  
officer said you have nice handwriting.

That’s good.

A bunch of nice ladies recognized Uncle  
Jinnie and asked for a picture with him. One  
of them almost fainted when Uncle Jinnie  
picked up her hat for her. 😂

Sounds fun.

It was!!

Pixie Lix, this is Bamie. Your dad had to do  
some hands-on work with one of the models  
but told me I can reply to you.

Tell Jinyoung: (1) I told him that he’ll be  
bombarded by fans 🙄, and (2) I got Minho to  
pack in a cap and shades for him in his duffel  
bag. He’s welcome. 💅

Uncle Jinnie told me to tell you that he won’t  
thank you, but he’ll thank Minho. 😛

Mature of him to be so petty.

The car’s here so we’re leaving now!

Stay safe.

Aaaaaand we arrived at the hotel! It’s a really  
cool place, dad!!! 😮 We should go here when  
we finally go to Korea together.

Glad you’re doing well. We’ll talk about that  
when you get home, Felix.

❤️❤️❤️

❤️

We’re going to go around the city now!!

Uncle Jinnie’s going to wear the mask and hat  
but he still won’t thank Bamie. LMAO

Very mature of him.

Okay, have fun. Take care.

📸🤙

♛

**  
  
  
**

_Ding!_

“And that must be your Uncle Jae.” Jinyoung picked up his phone on the nightstand and read the message he just received. He was still dressed in the clothes he wore the whole day, complete with the hat and mask (pulled down to his chin for the time being). “Yep, he’s downstairs in the lobby. Ready, Felix?”

“ _As I’ll ever be_ ,” Felix muttered under his breath. “Can you bring the Gifts Bag, Uncle Jinnie?” He was referring to the big black roller bag that held nothing but presents both Tuans insisted on giving to the family Felix will be staying with. It was nothing much; just 4 bottles of Yellow Tail wine, 5 Rolex watches, 2 Chanel handbags, an Ona Prince Street messenger bag, a fluffy stuffed dog, and many snacks.

(To the Tuans’ defense, the only items they purchased were the stuffed toy and snacks; all of the others were either gifts from Christmas or PR packages that arrived recently. Such is the life of a high-profile figure in the fashion industry.)

“Sure.”

When Jinyoung and Felix stepped out of the elevator to the lobby not five minutes later, they immediately spotted Jaehyung Park ( _please_ call him Jae) sitting on one of the long couches. He looked up in their direction just then, and the smile he sent them was the friendliest Felix had seen in a while from an adult he didn’t grow up with.

“ _Junior!_ ”

Jinyoung, to Felix’s amusement, let out the loudest, most exasperated groan Felix had ever heard from him. And he’s seen Jinyoung interact with Bambam a lot.

“Jae-hyung, please. That stopped being funny after the first day.”

“It’s still funny to me, though.” Jae stood up and, despite the earlier teasing, the two met in a tight embrace. “It’s good to see you again, Jinyoung.”

“You too, Jae-hyung. Somehow you’re taller and bonier than when I last saw you.”

“Stop, you know I’m very self-conscious.” Jae said in mock hurt. When they pulled away, Jae smiled down at Felix. “And you must be Felix.”

“That’s me.” And despite flushing pink from shyness, Felix’s smile never wavered. Letting go of the hold on his bag, he extended his hand to Jae in greeting. “Felix Tuan, at your service. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Uncle Jae.”

“I could say the same to you, Felix.” Jae shook Felix’s hand quickly and firmly, hoping his face didn’t show just how endeared he was at Felix’s formality and flowery choice of words. “You’re very well-spoken and mature for your age. Mark raised you very well.”

Felix beamed. “I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you!”

“It is, don’t worry.” Jae laughed. “So, shall we head over to my car? I managed to find a parking lot just by the entrance so it’s not going to be much of a walk. Did you change your mind and finally agree to join our welcoming dinner for my little buddy here, Jinyoung? Sungjin was able to take today and tomorrow off so he’ll be cooking for us tonight.”

“I would love to try Sungjin's cooking again, but my schedule won’t allow it.” Jinyoung said, sighing wistfully. “I’ll accompany Felix to your place and make sure he’s settled in before I attend a dinner tonight with the rest of the cast and crew to discuss our plan of action for the shoot. I am here for a job, after all.”

“That’s unfortunate, but I totally understand.” Jae managed to convince Felix to let him help with the bags and became in charge of the roller bag. “So, _my Little Birthday Twin,_ I hope you have a palate for European food.”

“I do, actually!” Felix responded enthusiastically, to Jae’s surprise and Jinyoung’s amusement. “I am quite fond of French and Italian food, in particular. I accompany dad on his trips to France every year, so I’m actually familiar with them.”

“Oh, Sungjin will love having someone like you around.” Jae said, eliciting a shy laugh from Felix. When they got to the car and placed the bags in the trunk, only then did Jae make a comment about the bag that Jinyoung was carrying.

“Felix, are you also bringing this bag with you to camp?”

“Oh, that’s just the Gifts Bag! I was thinking of leaving it at your place if that’s okay?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. That’s no problem.” Jae went through the whole process of closing the trunk and buckling himself in the driver’s seat before he questioned further. “Gifts Bag?” he asked, his voice low enough for only Jinyoung, seated in the passenger seat, to hear.

“Mark insisted. Don’t ask.”

“O...kay.” Luckily, Jae has a lot of experience with keeping conversations going so he quickly asked Felix more about himself. You know, time to get to know about Mark’s son on a more personal level. It also helped that Felix found Jae really nice and easy to talk to. Jinyoung even found himself easily slipping into the conversation from time to time.

Before they knew it, they arrived at the 2Kim-2Park-2Shin-Kang-Yoon townhome.

“Wow,” Felix breathed as he looked up the building. The townhome consisted of three narrow houses, each three storeys high. Concrete walls separated the front lot of each house as a makeshift open-roof garage. Jae had opened the gate to the lot of the middle house and parked the car facing the front door. “It’s so much bigger than I expected.”

“A little worn, not the place I would have imagined myself living when I was kid, but it’s home.” Jae said, opening the trunk of the car. Jinyoung poked him in the side for that cheesy remark. Thus began a brief poke war between the mature adults that Felix missed because he was still looking in awe of the place.

“Seungmin lives in the house on the right, right?”

“Yep.” Jae and Jinyoung finally ceased in their poke war and finished pulling out the roller bags from the trunk. “Sungjin is in charge of picking up the kids from school and buying the ingredients for tonight’s dinner, so they won’t be here for another hour or so—”

The front door on the right suddenly slammed open and a voice could be heard shouting, “Seungmin, don’t slam open the door!”

Felix’s excitement doubled when he heard a voice he was more than familiar with shouting back, “Sorry, dad!” Felix immediately clung to Jinyoung’s shirt to keep himself from running out to the street like his instincts were telling him to. He didn’t notice the amused looks the two adults exchanged at his actions, his eyes fixed on the opening of the garage.

When Seungmin finally came into view, the two kids met eyes and the biggest smiles appeared on both their faces.

“H-Hello,” Felix stuttered out his greeting and immediately his heart seemed to stop and his mind took a quick turn down panic lane. _Oh god, I can’t even greet Seungmin properly. I’m not going to survive._ So caught up in his panic, he didn’t notice Jinyoung gently prying himself away and pushing him closer towards his friend. “I-It’s nice to finally meet you—”

But before Felix could say anything else, Seungmin closed the gap between them and pulled him in a tight hug. Whatever cloud that had begun forming inside Felix was gone instantly and he hugged back full force.

“Oh, he shouldn’t have done that.” Jinyoung whispered to Jae. “Felix is the really clingy type, so unless Seungmin wants to have a leech hanging on to him for the whole summer, he should let go soon.”

“I don’t think Seungmin would mind that.” Jae whispered back, still looking at the two kids now swaying back and forth in their hug. It was beyond adorable. “He’s been wanting to meet Felix for years now, so we should expect a similar level of clinginess from them both.”

Back to the pre-teens, they finally pulled away to speak properly to each other. Their hands remained interlocked in between them, though.

“I’m so happy we finally met. _I finally get to play and talk to you whenever I want!_ ” Seungmin started off his sentence in Korean, but remembered how much he wanted to make Felix still feel comfortable so he switched to English to the end.

“ _I’m very happy too._ ” Felix laughed brightly and swung their hands side-to-side. “I’m really excited now that we are able to hug and make happy memories together.”

“I thought you said you weren’t good with Korean.” Seungmin accused playfully. “ _You are speaking better than since we last called!_ ” Felix’s mood instantly shot up.

“ _That means a lot to hear that!_ I practiced really hard so that I would be able to speak to you properly, as well as the people in the camp. I hope to get along well with them.”

“ _They will love you._ ” Seungmin promised fiercely. “It’s impossible to not like you.” At that moment, Seungmin’s dad finally came over to join them in the garage.

“Seungmin.” Wonpil’s tone was scolding, but his expression didn’t imply that he was actually disappointed. “You ran out so fast you forgot to put on shoes.”

“I did?” Seungmin and Felix both looked down and saw that Seungmin’s feet were only clad in the black socks. They shared a look before Seungmin turned to his dad. “So I did.”

Wonpil rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling so Seungmin was still okay. Wonpil then turned to Felix and offered him a kind and welcoming smile. “Hello, Felix. It’s nice to finally meet you. How was your flight?”

“It was fine, thank you! And it’s very nice to finally meet you too.” Felix bowed respectfully and stepped away from Seungmin to shake Wonpil’s hand in greeting. “Thank you for letting me stay with you on such short notice. My dad and I are very grateful for your kindness.” And just like earlier with Jae, Wonpil was instantly won over.

“Did your dad tell you to tell me that too?” Wonpil joked, causing Felix to laugh.

“No, but he did help me learn some of the words. But I mostly practiced Korean with Minho and—Minho-hyung and Uncle Jinnie.”

“Were they good teachers?”

“The best!” Felix nodded so furiously that Jinyoung worried for his balance after. “I couldn’t have asked for better Korean teachers.”

“Oh, look at that,” Wonpil then turned to Jinyoung who was just silently watching them all with Jae this whole time, “you could make a living as a Korean teacher in case your career suddenly takes a dive downwards.”

“You think you’re so funny,” Jinyoung deadpanned, “don’t you, Kim Wonpil? All these years and you’re still so very cheeky.”

Wonpil _tsked_ at Jinyoung, wagging a finger in what would be a scolding manner. “Be respectful to your elders, Park Jinyoung.”

“You’re barely five months older than me!”

“And the important bit there is that I am older than you.” Then they shared a smile, and hugged each other similarly to how Seungmin and Felix were hugging earlier. “It’s really nice to meet with you again, Jinyoung. It’s been too long.”

“We met up for dinner last year in Busan, Wonpil,” Jinyoung reminded his dear friend.

“Yeah, but that’s only one dinner together in the past decade.” Wonpil stressed the number of years to better prove his point. “I haven’t even properly met your son! Don’t even try to justify it by saying we exchange letters and emails regularly. You know it’s not the same.”

“Sorry,” Jinyoung smiled, sounding sincerely apologetic. “I’ve been meaning to visit, but life’s been really busy back in Australia. I just barely managed to squeeze in this vacation with Minho, but even this turned into another business trip. If I finish the job early, I promise to drop by sometimes when you’re free.”

“You better.” Wonpil had a serious face for a total of half a second before he burst into a wide smile. “I’m kidding, Jinyoung. We’re past the point of having to meet regularly to keep a friendship close. But it is very nice to see you again.”

“And surprising,” Jae deadpanned. “I thought you were on shift at the hospital until ten.”

“I didn’t want to raise anyone’s expectations in case there wasn’t anyone who could take over my shift tonight,” Wonpil explained with a shrug. “I was able to clock out before school let up so I offered to take Seungmin home because I thought he would like to be with Felix.” Wonpil hummed happily to himself before turning to Jinyoung. “Are you staying for dinner?”

Jinyoung shook his head. “Dinner meeting with the rest of the cast and crew. I already told Jae-hyung about it.”

“Sad,” Wonpil sighed, “but work is work.”

“And speaking of, I think I need to take my leave.” Jinyoung quickly glanced at his watch and nodded to himself. “Yeah, I need to leave. I still have to find the restaurant and hopefully freshen up before I have to sit around for three hours.”

“I can drive you to the station, if you want?” Jae offered.

“No need. You said the station’s a five-minute walk, right? I can manage.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.” Jinyoung smiled and hugged his two friends one last time. “It really was great seeing you two again. If I manage to find free time while I’m still here, I’ll tell you immediately. I would also love to catch up with the others.”

“It was great seeing you too,” Wonpil said while patting Jinyoung firmly on the back. “Break a leg and all that jazz.”

“Wonpil, my friend, I think that’s for theatre.”

“Well excuse me for not knowing, Jae-hyung. We can’t all be smart like you.”

“You had a higher general weighted average than me when we graduated.”

“But you’re the one who’s working in the academe right now so you’re still a bigger nerd.”

“Listen here, Kim Wonpil—”

Jinyoung laughed as he pulled away from their embrace. It filled him with a sense of nostalgia seeing Wonpil and Jae still in their back-and-forth banter. Jinyoung then turned to Felix and Seungmin who were enjoying the feeling of having a face-to-face conversation.

“Felix?”

“ _Yeah, Uncle Jinnie?_ ” Turns out, when Felix is really happy, he reverts back to English. _Cute._ Jinyoung saw the two kids’ hands clasped together in between them. _Cuter._

“ _I’ll be going now._ ” Jinyoung replied in English, lifting up his watch and motioning to it with his other hand. One blink, two blinks, and three, then realization painted Felix’s features.

“ _Oh! Already?_ ”

“ _I’m afraid so._ ”

“ _You really can’t stay for dinner?_ ” Felix finally let go of Seungmin and ran up to Jinyoung, who was ready for the Felix Hug. “ _On the car ride here, you said you wanted to meet everyone again, and I know you like European food too._ ”

“ _Yeah, but I’m here for work, remember?_ ” Wonpil cooed at the sight of Jinyoung and Felix swaying back and forth in their hug but Jae shushed him. “ _I need to make sure there’s money to send back to Minho, after all._ ”

Felix groaned and pulled back to pout at Jinyoung. “ _You know I can’t argue if it’s to help Minho._ ” Jinyoung laughed and placed a kiss on Felix’s forehead.

“ _Have fun in camp, Felix._ ” One last pat on the head, and the two parted. “You’re fluent enough in Korean, so you have nothing to worry about. Be more confident.”

“ _If you say so then it must be true._ ” Felix grumbled, but a thankful smile was on his face. “I’ll see you in a month, Uncle Jinnie. Good luck with your shooting!”

“Thank you. See you in a month.”

With a smile to Seungmin and one last nod to Wonpil and Jae, Jinyoung finally took his leave. And when they couldn’t see his figure anymore, Seungmin took back Felix’s undivided attention (not that it was hard, anyway).

“ _I’ll show you your room!_ ” Seungmin had this really big smile on his face that Felix found hard not to return. “We prepared the guest room for you, but we also got the futons ready so we can sleep in the living room together and watch movies or play games. _It’s like practicing for camp!_ ”

“I would like both, if that’s okay?” Felix said, letting himself be dragged by Seungmin to his house. “I’m a little exhausted from the trip so I would like to rest, but I think I can manage one movie tonight.” Wonpil and Jae followed close behind, each carrying one of the large bags Felix brought with him.

“We can watch more tomorrow after we come home from Lotte World,” Seungmin promised in all seriousness someone his age could muster. It made Jae snicker a little. “Uncle Jae has a flash drive with many movies in English with Hangul subtitles so we can watch those!”

“That sounds like a lot of fun, I would like that!”

“You should invite Ryujin and Yuna to join you two then.” Wonpil suggested.

Seungmin made a face that Felix giggled at. “Maybe Yuna, but Ryujin said she won’t watch anything with us unless it’s from her favorite actor or whoever he was.”

Felix tugged lightly on Seungmin’s hand. “Ryujin-ssi and Yuna-ssi are your cousins, right?”

“In a way. We’re actually more like siblings since we were all raised together by my dad and our uncles.”

“ _So it’s like me and Minho._ ”

“ _Yeah, like you and Minho-ssi_. You know, it’s still weird to me how you never call him with any honorific even when you’re speaking in Korean, like right now.”

“He says I didn’t have to call him that since I never had to call him that growing up. He told me I probably have to call him that to others who don’t know our relationship well, though.”

“Must be nice being that close with someone.”

So caught up in their own world, Seungmin and Felix didn’t notice when Jae didn’t immediately follow them up the stairs. But Wonpil did, since he was a responsible adult that has to notice these things. He wasn’t ten steps up the stairs when he realized Jae wasn’t following behind him anymore.

“Jae-hyung?” Wonpil frowned upon noticing the guilty look on his friend’s face. “Is something wrong?”

“That,” Jae paused, seemingly thinking of his words carefully, “actually depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether Sungjin will forgive us for not getting Jinyoung’s autograph.”

“Why would—oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’ is right.”

And in the midst of their crisis, Seungmin’s proud voice could be heard telling Felix how he picked out the beddings for the guest room and how he set it up all by himself.

“Dad only had to help me get the beddings from the upper shelf since I couldn’t reach it even with the ladder.”

“Wow, the bed’s really big too! _Seungmin, you’re so grown-up._ You’re really admirable.”

“ _Thank you!_ ”

**  
  
  
**

♛

 ** _Private Messages of Mark Tuan_** **_  
_****—aaa3 Jinyoung Park**

JULY 12, 2013; 4:37PM

Just so you know, I saw Felix off at Jae-hyung’s  
place. I would think he’s being kept busy by  
Seungmin so he hasn’t messaged you yet.

They were really cute, Seungmin and Felix. They  
couldn’t stop hugging when they first met.

Cute. Did you take a picture?

I was helping Jae-hyung unload the car so I  
couldn’t get my phone out in time.

☹️

Are you still with them?

No. I’m on my way to have dinner with the cast  
and crew to discuss our plans.

Jae-hyung offered to drive me to the restaurant,  
but it was just half an hour’s commute from the  
2Kim-2Park-2Shin-Kang-Yoon place.

That’s a mouthful.

Tell me aboutwijdfkhcs

Are you okay?

Jinyoung?

Sorry for the late reply, but I’m fine.

A kid bumped into my leg and I nearly  
tripped on the sidewalk.

Then get off your phone and keep your eyes on  
the road. You could trip into the streets and get  
run over by a bus or something.

You’re still replying to me, though. It’s my  
moral obligation to reply to you.

Good night, Jinyoung.

Don’t reply.

👍

😠

♛

In the middle of the streets of Seoul, a man seated in the passenger seat of a heavily tinted car was talking loudly on the phone.

“It wasn’t my fault this time!”

“Sure it wasn’t.”

“But I’m serious, Jaebeom-hyung,” the name was drawn out into a long and pitiful whine but neither the person on call nor the driver showed any signs of being bothered. (They were too used to this, we suppose.) “I really did get the can first but then this old lady comes up asking for the can and was I supposed to say no?” He sounded insulted just from the thought. “To the lady who was probably going to make pasta for her own children back at home?”

“And that’s why you were bombarded by the paparazzi?”

“Almost. I was almost bombarded by the paparazzi. Anyway, the old lady even had a cane! I wasn’t going to just let her do her own groceries herself. I’m a gentleman, after all.”

“And because of that, you stayed longer in the store to finish your own shopping. And as a result, some fans that arrived at the grocery recognized you, posted on social media, and you were almost bombarded by the paparazzi.”

“Exactly!”

“You’re so lucky Yugyeom was at the mall nearby and was fine being suddenly tasked to save your sorry ass.”

“It was the most exciting part of my day, not going to lie,” Yugyeom spoke up upon hearing his name in the conversation. “Kind of felt like one of those getaway cars you see in the spy movies, only with less police.”

“Were you hoping for the police to show up?”

“It would have made the experience more memorable.”

“You two are insane,” came the deadpanned reply over the phone.

“We know.”

“Thank you!”

The two in the car snickered when Jaebeom grumbled about “being a producer, not a baby-sitter for two overgrown brats, I want my boyfriend” or whatever. The usual stuff.

“Anyway, Jackson.”

The man on the passenger seat perked up at his name. “Yeah, hyung?”

“I finally got your schedule cleared up tomorrow.” Back to business in a flash, as expected of their PD-nim! “I was able to move the dress ‘n tech rehearsal to Sunday evening because the venue suddenly had to do a sudden inspection of the lights and stage. And as for your interview, they agreed to move it to Monday so long as you model for them in one more outfit.”

“Anything,” Jackson said immediately. “Hyung, you know I would do anything just to have as much free time this weekend.”

“I know. I asked one of the managers on the night-shift to send you your new schedule tonight. Expect it in the morning at the latest, but you don’t have to reply until Sunday.”

“You’re too good for me, Jaebeom-hyung,” Jackson teased. “I’ll bring you a cake to our dress ‘n tech.”

“I will accept nothing but strawberry shortcakes.”

“Done!”

“Okay. I have a meeting in a few so—”

“Wait, Jaebeom-hyung!” Jackson’s sudden exclamation surprised even Yugyeom. Good thing they weren’t currently moving since they got held up at a stoplight. “I have to ask you something important!”

“What is it? Is it about the tour?”

“Do you think I should go back to being blond?” Jackson asked, smiling goofily out the window. “The nice old lady who helped me today gave me a life lesson to never forget my roots, so I was wondering if I should go back to my first hairstyle when I debuted. Remember that one? The one where it was really short and almost white—”

_Click._

“—What was that sound? Jaebeom-hyung? Hello? Are you still there, Jaebeom-hyung?” Jackson looked at his phone and gasped dramatically when he saw that his friend had ended their call. “He hung up on me!”

“Did he now?”

“Yeah, Yugyeom-ie, look!”

“I’m driving right now, Jackson-hyung.”

“You’re right. Focus on the road.” Jackson pouted at his phone until the screen turned black from being unused for a while. “I can’t believe Jaebeom-hyung hung up on me!”

“Oh yeah, I wonder why.”

“Now’s not the time to be sarcastic with me, Yugyeom-ie. I'm genuinely hurt.”

“Okay, Jackson-hyung.”

Jackson glared not-at-all seriously at Yugyeom who didn’t even spare him a glance, all too used to his boss’ antics.

“You’re so mean to me, Yugyeom-ie.”

“Sure, Jackson-hyung.”

Jackson huffed as he relaxed in his seat. He caught a movement at the corner of his eye and saw a kid bump into someone who was distracted by their phone. It was quite funny, actually—the phone practically flew out of their hands but some juggling and quick steps happened and everything was safe. Somehow. The kid, however, looked like they were going to cry, but Phone Person comforted them and so they parted with a fistbump to each other.

What caught Jackson’s eye was the little crown on the kid’s head.

 _Ah_ , he thought happily to himself as they drove away. He kept his gaze on the two until he couldn’t see them anymore even with the rearview mirror. _I can’t wait to go back home and spend time with my own little prince. Oh, right the cake—_

“Yugyeom-ie, I just remembered something. Before we get to my place, I need to make a stop at another grocery store. You know the red one near the playground?”

“Yeah, I remember. Did you forget to buy something?”

“More like they didn’t have the exact kind I was looking for. And besides,” Jackson’s smile turned more fond, “my little prince loves the cheesecake there the best.”

♛

Later at the 2Kim-2Park-2Shin-Kang-Yoon townhomes, the adults all found themselves gathered in the 2Kim’s living room while the kids all bonded over Tangled if them belting out I’ve Got A Dream was any indication. How they managed to convince Ryujin to watch it with them was not the current concern.

“It didn’t cross any of your minds to get his autograph before he left? I can’t believe you both forgot that Jinyoung is Ryujin’s favorite actor! He’s all she ever talks about these days.”

“I think it’s hilarious.”

“ _Of course you think it’s funny, Brian_.”

“ _We’re in Korea, Jae-hyung._ Call me Younghyun.”

“Whatever. Anyway, Sungjin, Jinyoung wasn’t even here for a full ten minutes, you can’t really blame us for forgetting to get little Ryu an autograph when we were busy catching up.”

“And also, Jinyoung said that he was going to try to finish early with his schedule so that we would have time to catch up! It’s not like today was going to be the last time we see him.”

“Yeah, what Wonpil said.”

“Ugh, fine! But make sure you two remember next time.”

“Man, I can’t wait to tell Dowoon about this when he comes back from his department trip.”

“Brian, stop being annoying.”

“Jae-hyung, start calling me Younghyun.”

“Your English name rolls off my American tongue easier, _let me live._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief Character Profile Summary, but note that the ages depicted are their ages for the current year even if their birthday has yet to pass:
> 
>  **Mark Tuan** (36) - also known as _Tuan Yien_. Born in the USA, he left his family (parents and three siblings) to take up tertiary education in Korea. Blip blap bloop, some significant things happened while he was there, and he’s now a famous fashion designer-model mainly based in Australia with his brand, 7for7. He moves around a lot though (country-to-country) due to his job.
> 
>  **Felix Yongbok Tuan** (13) - adopted son of Mark who always goes with his dad abroad, so he was home-schooled his whole life and learned many languages that way (he is only fully fluent in English, Korean, Mandarin, and French though). He knows he was born in Korea from his birth certificate, but hasn’t been to the country for some reason until now.
> 
>  **Jinyoung Park** (35) - actor and TV show host based in Australia. He is a close friend of Mark’s who helped raise Felix for the first two years of the infant’s life. Also moves around for his work, but it’s not as hectic or demanding so he can afford to have almost annual trips with Minho.
> 
>  **Minho Lee-Park** (17) - born in Korea, he was orphaned at age 5, but was adopted by Jinyoung about a year later when the cast and crew of a show Jinyoung was a part of conducted an outreach program, and they got close because they were both Korean. Jinyoung let him keep his last name ‘Lee’ until Minho asked to add ‘Park’ to his name when he turned 16.
> 
>  **Kunpimook Bhuwakul** (27) - please call him Bambam. He was one of Felix’s frequent baby-sitters growing up (and eventually Minho’s when he came in their little family), especially when Mark would bring Felix to work. He began interning for Mark in high school, and is now his most trusted personal assistant. He is also an aspiring stylist.
> 
>  **Christopher Chan Bang** (27) - he is a full Korean born and raised in Australia. He was Felix’s and Minho’s primary baby-sitters as he used to live just across their houses. Currently, he works as a producer in a music company and shares an apartment with Bambam closer to their workplaces in the city. Music is Life.
> 
>  **Park Jaehyung** (37) - please call him Jae. He is Mark’s childhood friend from LA who moved to Korea for college and was a major contributor to Mark wanting to study abroad. Knows almost (emphasis here) everything about the blip blap bloop significant things. He is a professor in the Department of Sociology of the country’s top university nearby, and lives in the middle townhouse with Dowoon and Younghyun.
> 
>  **Kim Wonpil** (35) - close friend of Jinyoung after their shared classes together when Jinyoung was taking some classes in his university. His girlfriend-almost-fiancé died after giving birth to Seungmin, but he’s had help from the others with raising Seungmin. He is now a Pediatric Nurse.
> 
>  **Kim Seungmin** (13) - son of Wonpil. He and Felix became pen pals when they were five and have been best friends ever since. He doesn’t know Felix’s dad is this really famous figure in the fashion world, only that he’s good at what he does. The only times they didn’t exchange letters or emails were when Seungmin went to Yellow Wood Summer Camp every year since he was six years old.
> 
>  **Park Sungjin** (36) - adopted Ryujin and Yuna after their parents (his sister and her husband) died in an airplane crash. He is currently the head chef of a restaurant in a fancy hotel.
> 
>  **Shin Ryujin** (12) - niece-daughter of Sungjin, older sister of Yuna. Is a huge fan of Jinyoung Park, and talks about him a lot especially with her friends from school and camp.
> 
>  **Shin Yuna** (10) - niece-daughter of Sungjin, younger sister of Ryujin. Personification of the term “maknae on top.”
> 
>  **Kang Brian Younghyun** (36) - while in Korea, call him Younghyun. Jae’s second housemate, he is a music Lyricist-Producer as well as a part-time Radio Show DJ.
> 
>  **Yoon Dowoon** (34) - the third and final member of the middle house. He is also a professor in the same university as Jae, but in the Winds and Percussion Department. Currently, he is away on a College of Music Faculty Outing and won’t be back until the next week when the kids will be gone for summer camp.

**Author's Note:**

> [curiouscat](http://curiouscat.qa/auscelestially); [moodboard](https://twitter.com/auscelestially/status/1285140156257718272); ~~spotify playlist~~
> 
> Note: italicized words/phrases in conversations would indicate a switch in language. This won’t be so commonly done when in Australia, but expect a lot of switches when focus is moved to Korea.


End file.
